1965 Topps #488 Ted Wills
About Ted Wills
Two winning years at Triple-A San Diego, 15-10 and then 12-7, kept Wills employed, and the White Sox bought him from Cincinnati as spring training opened in 1965. At 31 he tucked into a bullpen fronted by Hoyt Wilhelm, Eddie Fisher and Bob Locker and pitched the best ball of his career, 2-0 with a save and a 2.84 ERA in 15 relief outings on a $7,500 salary. His last big-league game was a two-inning stint against the Senators on June 12, after which Chicago sent him to Triple-A Jacksonville. Card #488 is a sixth-series card, and it still pictures him as a Red, the uniform he had last worn in the majors three years earlier.
Theodore Carl Wills Jr., a left-hander born February 9, 1934, in Fresno, California, was the premier starter at Fresno High School and an all-state pick in baseball and basketball as a senior before pitching for the Fresno State Bulldogs. A Red Sox scout signed him in 1955 while he was still in college, for a bonus he remembered as a pair of spikes and a glove. Summers in Canadian amateur ball showed off his bat: at Saskatoon he led the league in hitting at .336. After ranking among the Southern Association leaders in wins, ERA and strikeouts for Double-A Chattanooga in 1958, he debuted for Boston on May 24, 1959. Across parts of five seasons with the Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox he went 8-11 with a 5.46 ERA and five saves in 83 games, 13 of them starts, and hit .250 in 44 at-bats. He spent 1963 and 1964 at Triple-A San Diego, closed 1965 in the minors and retired, then built a 40-year career as an insurance agent near Fresno. His father served more than 30 years on the Fresno City Council, eight of them as mayor in the 1970s. Wills died in Fresno on March 7, 2025, at 91.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 208 | 4 | 24 | 106 | 53 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1965 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #316 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #18 Bill McCool
- #47 Tommy Harper
- #60 Jim O'Toole
- #75 Deron Johnson
- #102 Steve Boros
- #120 Frank Robinson
- #141 Charlie James
- #158 Dick Sisler
- #174 Joe Jay
- #192 Jim Coker
- #207 Pete Rose
- #221 John Tsitouris
- #243 Reds 1965 Rookie Stars
- #263 Marty Keough
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #488 card?
It is card #488 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ted Wills of the Cincinnati Reds.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-11.